Floods leave a trail of destruction

 

KOTA KINABALU: The floods and landslides which hit Papar, Penampang, Putatan and Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday have left a trail of mud, overturned cars and collapsed houses among the damages.

Social media was swamped with pictures showing muddy homes inundated with flood waters, and partially submerged roads still inaccessible by vehicles.

A landslide came close to damaging houses along its path.

In Penampang, three people – a 25-year-old woman, a five-year-old girl and an eight-month-old baby – were killed in the Forest Hill landslide incident.

A family of six managed to run out of their house when they heard a loud gushing noise; they are now taking shelter at a relative’s house nearby.

“Our whole house was hit by the landslide, everything is destroyed,” said one of the inhabitants who did not want to be identified.

A flood victim who only wanted to be known as Elizabeth said she did not expect the flood waters to rise within one to two hours.

“The water came gushing in and we had no time to salvage our things like the fridge, children’s school books, mattresses and many more,” said the mother of four from Inobong.

Angel Albert, 19, of Kg Togop said it was scary how the river water level continued to rise although the rain had stopped.

“This is the worst flood I’ve experienced. The water level was almost waist high, damaging our washing machine, fridge, beds and tables,” she said.

Residents in Luyang, Bundusan and the surrounding areas were also perplexed as to what could have caused such an extreme flash flood, affecting even areas that were not usually hit.

“This is climate change I guess,” said a businesswoman.

A cashier who lives in Bundusan for over the past 20 years, said she had never seen the flood water rise to the main roads in her area.

“It just doesn’t make sense, the rains were not any heavier than what we’ve experienced but the flood waters were coming on so fast,” said the mother of one.

In Kasigui, Alex Tham said his car, motorcycle, and everything else at home “were pretty much going to the mechanics for repair”.

“We’ve always had flash floods but I am shocked, sad, and stressed this time around as it all happened within two hours,” he said, adding that many people, including his colleagues, were stranded and had to spend the night at their office.

“I was also out in the afternoon prior to the thunderstorm and when I wanted to head home, the road leading to my house was already flooded so I had to wait until sunset for my neighbour to come and get me using his pump boat.”

A car landed on its roof after it was swept away by strong currents.

Tham said the situation had been on-going for so long that people living on dry land had to resort to buying boats to deal with the non-stop recurring floods.

Meanwhile, hundreds of households affected by the incident are also having a tough time cleaning up the debris following water shortage woes due to clogged and damaged pipes.

Others are still waiting for the floodwaters to subside.

According to state Civil Defence officials, the total number of evacuees as of 8am was 68 people from 27 households in Penampang and Putatan. - Star